Construction begins on Yarnell Hill memorial

PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- Construction has begun on a cemetery memorial for 19
firefighters killed in an Arizona wildfire last year.

The Daily Courier reported that each firefighter will
have a plot and a bronze grave marker at the state-owned Pioneers Home Cemetery
in Prescott.

The plots are surrounded by a 2-foot wall where mourners can sit.

Officials said 10 of the Granite Mountain Hotshot firefighters are already
buried there.

There is room for family members to be buried alongside them.

The layout and design of the memorial had been a point of heated dispute
between representatives of the cemetery and firefighter support groups. Ted
Ihrman, superintendent at Pioneers Home, requested workers halt construction
last week because they weren't following the agreed upon design. Workers and
firefighters showed up Tuesday and Ihrman called police.

Prescott Fire Capt. JP Vicente said firefighters were trying to get the design
the Hotshots' families wanted but that Ihrman had rejected.

The two sides met Wednesday and agreed to move the wall a foot to make room for
more loved ones who want to laid to rest there near fathers or sons.

"We had a disagreement, and at the end we agreed to do the right thing,"
Vicente said.

The state designated a new section of the cemetery for the hotshots and charged
$100 per gravesite, instead of the usual $900. Numerous businesses donated
services and supplies including the granite for a monument and gravestones.

All but one of the 20 Hotshots on the Prescott-based crew perished in the
Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013. The memorial is expected to be completed
before the one-year anniversary.

Danny Parker, a retired firefighter whose son Wade was killed, said he and his
wife want to be buried next to him. Firefighters for years to come would watch
over the site.

"The fire service will not forget," Parker said.

Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill in April that would create a memorial at the site
of the fire.